Monday, May 1, 2017

                            The iPhone and on-line coup d 'etat continues
We're in the midst of an ongoing "on-line shopping" era.

It's already no trade secret that iPhones are ultra-omnipresent and worshipped by most as being "the ultimate panacea" in performing all life functions (minus eating, drinking, sleeping, shitting and pissing.  Although I'm sure the "tech wiz" crowd are working on bridging that gap as well).

It's invaded the realm of shopping and consumerism.  Folks are now even purchasing groceries, clothing, and ordering from restaurants on-line (does UPS or FedEx deliver Big Macs now?)

Personally I've never relished the idea of ordering things by mail, phone, or on-line.  When I make a purchase I want the item in my hand when I pay for it so I can take it home and have done with the acquisition of said item and move on with other things.
Ordering my purchases exteriorly involves waiting for the item to arrive afterwards, depending on the competence of the delivery service, and having to be present when the delivery is made.

The fact that companies and businesses these days are so ambiguous about their time frames only adds to my anxiety when doing business with them in this manner (my experiences with AT&T and the cable companies cemented that).
I picture someone calling their boss and explaining "I can't come in to work for the next week or two.  You see, I just bought a pair of shoes and now I'm waiting on them.  And I need to be home when FedEx delivers them to me".  And the boss says "Okay, but I'll need to see the receipt when you do come back--so I'll know you're not just 'making excuses' to 'take time off'".

And, like most other trends, society's intent on forcing this one on the rest of us as well---whether we want it or not.

3 comments:

  1. Haha. You know you can arrange for your parcel to be left with a neighbour or "safe place", and now you can pay extra and get a parcel delivered at a specific time on a specific day. Or if you use a UK delivery driver most of them will just dump the parcel outside your front door whether you are there or not.

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    1. Here in the U.S. a lot of people will think nothing of just walking up to the front porch and taking the package.
      If you think about that one, there's no way of them knowing what, exactly, is even IN the package, but they apparently assume it "must be something valuable".

      Ordering on-line involves putting one's credit card or debit card number on-line as well, opening up the possibility of hacking/identity theft. I much prefer to only use my debit card (I don't have credit, just for the record) only at the ATM and to use only cash for purchases as much as possible (yes, I'm quite the anachronism).

      Also, a new trick of "home invaders" come lately is to pose as UPS/FedEx employees (wearing fake uniforms and carrying fake packages) and rushing the resident when he/she opens their door and beating and robbing them accordingly.

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  2. But, basically, it's the way the system is methodically and incrementally closing down store after store---further eroding the element of freedom-of-choice---that's most distressing.

    Wherein the only way to purchase certain items will be by way of on-line or iPhones.
    Forcing even the unwilling among us to adapt to this method of doing business and purchasing consumer products (never mind the various risks involved in doing such).

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